Apparatus for seasoning lumber



M. t e. MOORE. Lumber Drier.

No. 24,230. i -Taented May 31, 1859.

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APPARATUS FOR SEASONING LUIVIBER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 24,230, dated May 3-1, 1859,

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, MORDECAI R. MOORE, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Seasoning Lumber or Timber of Every Description; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention has for its objects the perfect seasoning or drying of lumber, or timber of every description, in a more expeditious and economical manner than heretofore; and consists in providing, for the purpose, a capacious steaming-and-drying chamber, or vessel, fitted with internal track-rails, steam pipes and stop cocks, in such a manner that a truck or trucks, piled with the lumber to be seasoned, may be readily run into the said chamber, inclosed therein steam tight, and the lumber subjected to the direct action of steam for a sufficient length of time to eX- tract the sap and gummy matters therefrom and, immediately after, to the drying action of air in motion heated by a steam pipe, extended within the said chamber, until the said lumber is perfectly seasoned or dried? the said track-rails being in juxtaposition with external track-rails, and the said steam pipes in communication with an external steam generator of any suitable kind, substantially as and for the purposes hereinafter describede. v

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to dei scribe, more in detail, its construction and operation.

In the drawings, Figure 1, represents a vertical transverse section, and Fig. 2, a horizontal section, of the receiving, or steaming and drying vessel, with its fixtures. v

Like letters, in both figures, indicate the same objects.

A, is the receiving vessel; B, the zig-zag air-heating pipe leading from a distant generator, (not shown in the drawings) through the said vessel (A) C, C, the track-rails for guiding and supporting a truck (not shown in the drawings) loaded, or piled and stripped, with the lumber to be seasoned; D, a conducting steam-pipe leading from the said generator and opening directly into the vessel (A) and 1, 2, 8, 4 and 5, the several stop-cocks appertaining to the Said vessel.

be carried on may require-one of its ends, i A, being adapted for removal and replace ment (by means of screw-bolts-and-nuts, in the usual well known steam-tight manner) as occasion may, from time to time, require.

The air-heating steam-pipe (B) leads from any suitable distinct and distant steam generator, and passes through the wall of the vessel (A), thence longitudinally backward and forward, in a zig-zag manner,

any required number of times, having in View the radiation of a suiiicient amount of heat therefrom over, and a few inches above, the lower side or bottom of the said vessel (A), substantially in the manner shown in the drawings, and ultimately out again through the wall of the vessel, where it is fitted with a stop-cock (2) a like cock (l) being fitted in the said pipe at any point between the vessel (A) and the said distant generator. v

The track-rails (C, 0,) are secured permanently and parallel with each other, along on the lower side of the vessel (A) in such a manner as to be adapted to receive and support at a short distance above the Zigzag part of the pipe (B), a truck, or trucks, of a suitable size, with a proper complement of piled and stripped lumber, the said trackrails being also in juxtaposition with external track-rails, C,C, leading from the said vessel (A)so that the said loaded truck or trucks may be readily introduced or withdrawn from the Vessel, as occasion may require. The steam conducting pipe (D) also leads from the distant steam generator, before mentioned, but opens directly into'the vessel A), -and is also fitted with a stopcock (4L) at any point thereof between the said vessel (A) and the said generator.

On a line with the bottom, or lowest side of the vessel (A), there is fixed an out-andinlet pipe and stop cock (3), for the purposes of discharging condensed steam or water and admitting air, 'as will hereinafter be explained; and in the upper side, or top, of the said vessel (A), a like pipe and stopcock (5) is adapted for the purpose of allowing the vapor and air to escape, on commencing, or during the drying part of the process. A Vsafety-valve may also be fixed generator of heat should be distant from the drying vessel, or be separated by a close.

Wall; and,rin an economical point of View, it would be proper to inclose the vessel (A), and also the partsof the pipes (B, and D,) which connect the vessel (A) and the generator together, in Wood casing, or With 'brick-Work for the purpose of diminishing the loss of heat therefrom `by radiation.

Operation: A 'truck (or trucks) having been provided for the purpose, and loaded,

` or piled and stripped, With successive layers of the lumber to be seasoned, is run into the vessel (A) and the front-plate or head (A), is then secured, steam-tight, in vits place. The operator now closes the stop cocks 1, 2,

- and 3, 'and then admits steam, from the gene erator, through the pipe He noW closes the stop cock (5) which is on thehighest part of the said vessel (A), and thus subjects the lumber inclosed, to the action of'steam and at the same pressure as may be in the generator, Which shouldrbe regulated to whatever degree of pressure may be found most expedient or suitable to the purpose, having in view the strength of the apparatus. This steaming part of the process is to be steadily thus kept up, say from siXto twelve or fifteen hours-as the thickness, or hardness'of the pieces of lumber may require for the perfect solution and extraction of the sap, or gummy matters in the said lumber; and as soon as this ref sult is efected-*Which a little experience will enable the operator todetermine by the length of time the same has been so acted upon-the operator opens the stop cocks 1, 2, 3, and 5, and closes the stop cock, 4, thus permitting the steam, and also the Water Which has accumulated in the bottom of the y vessel (A) by condensation, to escapeTand the steam whichis' being produced by the i generator, to pass continuously through the Y headplate (A) may be removed, andV the truck or trucks With the seasoned lumber thereon, Withdrawn, runroifrby the external track, and another truck or series of trucks,

loaded With `green lumber, substituted and submitted to the same treatment, and therefore, Without necessarily causing any material loss of heatby delay.

It is obvious that the steaming and drying may be Aaccomplished in separate vessels or receiving chambers, connected by railtracks, and supplied with steam and heat by one generator, but I consider the one vessel juryto the reputation of the innocent icons structors; and the ultimate cause of all these evils, exists inthe fact that it takes from one to four years to Weather-season lumber piled in the yards; and to Which delay, be.- sides the interest on the capital so invested, is to be added the cost of insurance and yard room for the Whole time. It is proper to state, however, that the time has in some in! stances been greatly shortened by piling the lumber in ventilated chambers and heating them by contained stoves or furnaces, but the greatly increased risk from iire--.insep-` arable from this mode of dryingfflenhances the cost almost to the same e'Xtent as the rm longed mode of Weatherrseasoning; besides, in both these modes-tas most of the lumber is now transported from the place of `proe ductionby means of canal-boats andrailsroad cars-the sap and gummy inatter is not Iein` tracted, as Was'formerlythe vcase `in rafting-#and being, therefore, necessarily "ree tained, it gives nourishment tothe numer-V ous destructive insects Which, for years afs ter, continue to penetrate and destroy the lumber; Whereas, by the practice or useof my improved mode of seasoning, as herein described, lumber may be taken, green, or directly from the saw-mill, and in the course of 24 to 48 hours be delivered, perfectly free from sap and gummy matter, 'as Well as thoroughly dried or seasoned, at a costof not more than one dollar per thousand feet. And the steaming and `drying both being efT fected at one continuous operation, and by means of steam from a distant generator, there is no risk from ireesparks, nor loss of heat and consumption of time and labor, by changing the lumber from a steamer, `to a drier unconnected therewith. i y

Another important consideration in favor of my invention arises from the fact that it can be as readily practiced at the places of growth and original manufacture of the lumber as well as in our cities, and so effect a saving of at least thirty per cent. on the cost of canal or rail-road transportation, in consequence of its diminished weight.

I am aware that lumber has before been subjected to the direct action of steam, in close Vessels, for the purpose of softening and rendering it more pliable; that it is common to dry lumber piled in chambers heated by a contained furnace; and that plane-timber has been piled within a close Vessel fitted with internal steam pipes, in communication with an external generator, and an exhausting apparatusfor the purposes of steaming and drying the same; therefore I do not claim either of the devices herein described, separately consid- 

